King Cab 4x4 linked to hit and run

Investigators believe the truck that killed an Athens woman Saturday in a hit-and-run collision on Commerce Road may have been a red Nissan King Cab Hardbody 4x4 pickup, Athens-Clarke police said.

Investigators used evidence left at the scene to identify the type of truck that likely killed 19-year-old Nayasheika Cooper about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to police.

The truck's passenger side, including the headlight, was damaged when it hit Cooper, police said.

Cooper was killed on the shoulder of the four-lane road as she walked with her 3-year-old son from their home on Commerce Road to a convenience store a couple blocks away, police said.

Several people have called the Crime Stoppers tip line since a $1,000 reward was announced, but none of the information provided has panned out, according to Athens-Clarke police Sgt. Don Eckert, a supervisor with the Uniform Division's traffic unit.

Investigators are hoping someone might realize that an acquaintance stopped driving a red pickup after Cooper was killed.

"It is probable that the owner of the (truck) is no longer driving the vehicle and may have hidden the vehicle," Eckert said. "So we are asking that anyone that knows of a friend, neighbor or anyone else that owned a vehicle last week ... and is no longer driving the vehicle this week to contact the police department or Crime Stoppers."

The shattered headlight had a tinted lens cover, according to police.

The hit-and-run fatality was the second in Athens in less than a week.

Gedera Anthony Thomas, 12, was killed June 8 when a suspected drunken driver ran him down on Barnett Shoals Road near Green Acres Shopping Center in southeastern Clarke County.

Police got a tip that led them to arrest Joseph Patrick Armstrong, who claimed he didn't stop because he thought he had hit a dog, according to police.

Police charged Armstrong with DUI and two felonies, first-degree homicide by vehicle and leaving the scene of a fatal wreck.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run that killed Cooper should call Eckert at (706) 208-1718, extension 226.

Anonymous calls may be made on the Crime Stoppers tip line at (706) 613-3342.